The invention relates to a system for transmitting signals via a record carrier in the form of a tape, on which said signals are, or have been, recorded in mutually parallel tracks, which are inclined relative to the longitudinal axis of the record carrier, and which have a nominal pitch d, by means of an apparatus comprising a rotary-head arrangement having two pairs of heads which are disposed substantially diametrically opposite one another.
The invention also relates to a recording apparatus for use in the system, which apparatus comprises a rotary-head arrangement having two pairs of heads which are disposed substantially diametrically opposite one another, and to a reproducing apparatus for use in the system, which reproducing apparatus comprises a rotary-head arrangement having two pairs of heads which are disposed substantially diametrically opposite one another.
Such a system may be employed inter alia for recording and reproducing video signals in digitized form. After having been subjected to sub-Nyquist sampling and redundancy-reduction techniques, video signals can be transmitted with a transmission rate of approximately 24 Megabits/second, which requires a bandwidth of 12 MHz. A conventional video recorder, for example, the V2000 type, has a bandwidth of approximately 6 MHz, so that it is possible to record and reproduce these digital video signals by recording and reading with two heads in parallel instead of just one head. In order to obtain a sufficiently long playing time, the track width must be minimized. Therefore, a form of tracking control as used in the V2000 system in the form of a track following system is indispensable.